Explosive-engine.



Fig. l.

H. H. WIXON.

EXPLOSIVB ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 11, 1907,

Patented Jan. 25, 1910.

SSHEBTS-SHBBT 1.

ms 1L H. H. WIXON.

EXPLOSIVE ENGINE.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR.11.1907.

Patented Jan. 25, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2v H. H. WIXON.

EXPLOSIVE ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.11,1907.

Patented Jan. 25, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 w. .mf F

mm M WHA/55555;

HOWARD H. WIXON, 0F ICHICVIAGrO, ILLINOIS.

ExPLosrvE-ENGINE.

i speaacaaon of Lettersratent. Patented J an. 25, 1910.

To all whom/it may concern:

Be it known that I, lHOWARD H. WixoN, a citizen of the United States,residin at Chicafro, inthe county of Cook and tate of Illinois, haveinvented a new and Improved Explosive-Engine of which the followingdescription, with accompan mg drawings, is declared to be such a full, cear, and exact description as will enable others skilled inthe artto'which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to internal combustion engines and particularly tosuch engines in which the combustible is burned explosively on what iscommonly called the two stroke cycle. lMy improved engine is amodification of the engine shown in my earlier application, Serial Number'343,277 lfiled November 13, 1906. It follows the general lines ofthe earlier engine and embodies'many of the features suggested but notshown or described in my earlier application.

The object of my present invention is chiefly to improve theconstruction of my earlier engine; and the invention lconsists in thefeatures of construction, combination and Iarrangement'of parts,described in the specification, illustrated 1n the drawings, .andparticularly pointed out or specified in the appended claims. y

My engine is es ecially adapted for use in automobiles an like service,but can vbe modified for stationary or otherv service withoutdeparture'from the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a central longitudinal sectionof my engine, showing themechanism and parts on this section; Fig. 2 isa side section of one cylinder along the line a--b of Fi' 1, shwing theparts and mechanism on this section; Fi 3 is a lview of the'lowerpart'of one en cam an auxiliary pump shafts; Fig. 4 is a view o thecamshaft or inlet side, showing the mechanism on this side; Fig. 5 is aview of the other or exhaust side, showing the auxiliary air pump andparts on this side; Fig. 6 is a side section of the auxiliary air pumpalong the line c-d of Fi 5; 7

shows three views of one 0f t e transfer lvalve cams; Fig. 8 is a bottomview of the upper half of one of t-he crankshaft bearings, and Fig. 9isa section of the same along the line f-g of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a to viewof the lower half of one of the cran shaft ,and passages. rate and 1s-bolted to the cylinders on .the

showing the bevel gear drive for 'the 30-31 for each cylinder, and byApplication led March 11,1907. Serial No. 361,698.

bearings of which Fig. 1.1 is a section along the line kfz' (in Fig. 10)FigI 12 is a top view of the u per end of t e cylinders, showi dotte thelocation and arrangement il? e air and transfer passages; Fig. 13 is acrosssection of the cylinders and inlet valve box along the line j-s ofFig. 5; Fig. 14 is a section ofthe inlet valve box .along the-line Z-mof Fig. 13; and Fig. 15 -is a diagram .to illustrate the cycle ofoperations of the en ine.

The same re erence characters indicate similar .parts in the dili'erentures.

My engine is constructed with two cylyinders 1 and'2, and an aircylinder 3 preferably all in one piece with the water Jacket 4. The headiece 5 is bolted to the cylinders and contains the air and transfervalves The inlet valve box 6 isV sepaside. The cylinders are in turnbolted to the crank case which is in two halves 7 and 8, and forms a gastight compartmentfor fillers or counterweights 17 which may be formedintegral with the crankshaft or made separate and fastened or boltedthereto in some suit-able manner.

)n the inlet' side of the engine in Fig. 4, the camshaft 18 runs insuitable bearings 19-20 and is driven by the bevel 4gears 21-22--23-24from the crankshaft 9 with an even-or one to one gear. ratio. Thiscamshaft is free to move to the left and right through the `gear 24 butis rotated by the gear 24 by means of` a square key 25 (in ig. 3) whichis fastened to the gear and engages a slot or keywa in the camshaft.

This movement is contro led by the handle or rod 26 which is attached-to the camshaft by a ball bearing connection 27 so that the handle orrod 26 remains stationary and can lmove the rotatin camshaft to the leftor right as desired. his camshaft carries four cams, one transfer valvecam28-f29 for each cylinder and one inlet valve cam shifting thecamshaft to the left the tinnnglof the valves is changed. These valves.are normally held (closed by the springs 32 but are opened when requiredby the rollersof the valve rods running on the high part of the cams. Y

The explosive mixture inlet 33 (to which a carburetor may be attached)branches'oif to the two inlet valves 34-35 and .then through passages.36-37 to the transfer passages 38-39 (shown in Figs. 13 and 14, anddotted in Fig. 4) which connect the opposite ends ,of their cylinders.On the exhaust side of the engine 5', the crankshaft 40 for theauxiliary air pump 3 runs in suitable bearings 42-43 and is driven bythe bevel gears 2144.- -41 from the engine crankshaft 9 with a two toone gear ratio, so that the air pump piston 46 makes twice thenumber ofstrokes as either of the engine pistons. ln the section of this pump inFig. 6, the inlet valve 47 is held in place by the light'spring 48 andoperates automatically to admit 4the air to the pump; and the outletpassage 49 leads to the automatic air valve 50-51 of both cylindersthrough the passage 52 (shown dotted in Fig. 12). Both of these valvesare alike, one of them (51) being shown in Fig. 22 and either of themwill open when there is more pressure on the back of the valve than inthe engine cylinder. In the side Ysection in Fig. 2 of one cylinderof-which both are alike, except that the moving parts of one are s acedfor operation 180. or one-half revo ution behind the other, the transferpassage 38 con v nects the' puin or crank case chamber 53, formed by theower end of the cylinder and crank case, with the up er end of thecylinder or explosion Acham er 54. The transfer'valve 55 for this assage'is normally held closed by the sprin 32, through the rod 56 and lever58, an its stem is surrounded by the packing box 59 to prevent "closealways at about the same time.

exhaust from the explosion chamber 54 is leaka e. rl`his valve is'opened bythe cam 28, o 'which Fig. 7 'ves enlarged views, and closed bythe spring 32. 'lhis cam 28 (Fig. 7) is shown for rotation in thedirection of the arrow 60 and its forward edge 61 is parallel with thecamshaft so that the transfer valve is always opened at about the sametime, but its rear edge-62 slants across the cain so that the transfervalve is allowed to close earlier or later depending on the position ofthe camshaft 18 as explained in connection with Fig. 4. The,

corresponding. inlet valve cam 30 (Figure 4) is similarly sha ed, but isreversed and spaced so that its s anting edge engages the inlet valveroller just after the transfer valve closes, and then the inletvalve isheld openfor the required time and allowedmto as usual by a port 69' thecylinder wall,

transfer passages. the piston (F to E) the explosive mixturel erasescompression around or pastthe crankshaft I from pressure in the crankcase. The lower half 68 of the bearing (Figs. 10 and 11), which receivesthe wear, is similar to the ordinary plain half round bushin As thishalf of the bearing wears down in use, the upper half 67 of the bearing(Figs. 8 and 9) is made with a number of circular slots 63 into whichare fitted, the (nearly) half round rings 64 which are pressed outagainst the crankshaft by the dat spring strips 65 so that as the lowerhalf of the bearing wears down, the rings 64 fill in the resultantspace'in the top of the bearing and thereby prevent leakage of gas astthe crankshaft. An igniter 66 (Fig. 2 of some suitable kind, preferablyelectrical, is provided iii the compression space of the explosionchamber. i

The operation of this engine is similar to that of my earlier form andis as follows in A stroke of the engine piston: 0n the up' stroke of theengine piston (E to F) the inlet valve is opened by its cam and theexplosive mixture (gas and air or carbureted air) is drawn into thelower end of the cylinder or pump chamber through thev inlet and 0n thedown stroke of is compressed in the crank case or'puxnp chamber to about8 or 9 pounds, and at the saine time a charge ofair is drawn in andcompressed in the auxiliary air pump, At p the point G the exhaustbegins from the `explosion chamber through the exhaust port andcontinues to the point J.' At the point l-l the pressure in theexplosion chamber has fallen sufiiciently low so that the air'pressurefrom the auxiliary air pump opens the automatic air valve (5l in Fig. 2)and admits t-he charge of air into the explosion chamber, the bulk of itentering before point I is reached where the transfer valve (55 in Fig.2) is opened by its cam and the fulll charge of ex losive mixture enters(through the trans er passage) the explosion chamber (in addition to theair charge){ driving outf-tle products of combustion (ex-3 hausting) tothe point J. The combined displacement' capacity of the pump chamberandthe auxiliary air puin icient to entirely displace t e burned chargefrom the explosion chamber. lNow if the full ower is desired from theengine, the camshaft 18 is 'moved to the corresponding should be suf-lposition (by the handlel Q6 in Fig. 4). Then the transfer valve willclose at J and the entire charge of explosive mixture will be retainedand compressed in the upper end of the cylinder on the up stroke (E toF) to point L where it is exploded by the igniter. At the' same time onthe' up stroke just after the transfer valvey closes, `the inlet valveis opened by its cam (and held open to about F) admitting anotherexplosive charge to the crank case ump chamber; and also during thistime t ve auxiliary air pump draws in and compresses another charge ofair, but as there is now a high pressure. inthis cylinder (or explosionchamber) its automatic air valve is held closed and the air chargeenters the other cylinder which is just exhausting, and in this mannerthe auxiliary air pump delivers' a charge of'air alternately to eachCylinder as onev cylinder is exhaust'- iug while the other is oncompression.` On the next down stroke (F to E) expansion of the explodedmixture takes place from E down to exhaust G doing work, and at thesarne time the mixture in the crank case is compressed" and theauxiliary air pump draws in and compressesa charge of air read to bedelivered at exhaust as before; It will be' understood that theI cycleof opera-V tions for each cylinder is completedat each revolution ofthe' crankshaft and that the cycle of one cylinder' is one halfrevolution or 180 behind the other as is usual in the ordinary formoftwo cylinder two cycle engine. If less than full poweris desired fromthe engine, the camshaft 18 is moved correspondihgly (to the left of theposition in Fig. 4) by the handle' 26. The transfer valve then will beopened .as before at point I, but instead ofclosing as before at point Jit is held open for a longer period by its cam and closes at a pointbetween lJ andK depending on. theposition of the camshaft, so that partof the explosive mixture (which has` entered the explosion chamber) willbe returned to the .pump chamber again, leaving only such charge in theexplosion chamber to be ignited as is required to produce the desiredpower. The inlet valve to the pump chamber is not opened by its camuntil the transfer'valve closes as there is no suction in the pumpchamber before then, and the inlet valve 1s then held open until thepiston reaches the top of its stroke (F) so that sufficient explosivemixture is drawn in to again make a. full charge in the pump chamberready for compression as before.

It will be noted that my present invention is largely a very practical,compact. and efficient construction of an engine built on the .samegeneral principles of my earlier invention, the two working cylindersheilig used to give a more even application of power and also to balancethe moving parts. The arrangement of the auxiliary air pump gives aquick injection of the air charge when it is needed, andthe mechanicaloperation of the inlet and transfer valves makes higher engine speedspractical as well as reducing the loss due to the resistance of thevalves.

'It is obvious that many of the features of construction, wh'ich arecombined to perform more than one function or operation, can beseparated without departure from the invention, such as for instance thetransfer valvx which is used both to control the transfer of thel chargeto the explosion chamber and also to control the return of part of thecharge to the pump chamber for power regulation.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:-

l. The combination with a two cylinder two cycle explosive engine of theclass described, of a single actinf auxiliary air pump, means to operatesaid pump at twice the speed of the engine, and means whereby the a1rcharge is delivered alternately to each of the engine cylinders,substantially as described.

2. In a two cycle explosive engine, the combination of a crank caseforming a pump chamber, an attached cylinder forming anv explosion orworking chamber at its outer end and having therein a working pistonwhich is commonA to both of said chambers, an inlet passage to the pumpchamber, a normally closed inlet valve controlling said passage, aninlet cam lhaving operating means therefor in connection with the engineshaft meanscoperating with said inlet cam and said inlet valve wherebythe cam operates to open the valve to admit a charge of explosive gas tothe pump chamber, a transfer passage directly connecting the pmnp and.explosion chambers around the cylinder, a

normally closed transfer valve controlling said transfer passage, atransfer cam having operating means therefor in connection with theengine shaft, and means coperating with said transfer cam and transferValve whereby the transfer Cam operates to open the transfer valve toallow the transfer of the explosive charge to the explosion chamberduring exhaust therefrom of the burned charge of the previous explosion.

3. In a two cycle explosiverengine, the combination of a crank caseformi-ng a pump chamber, an attached cylinder forming an explosion orworking chamber at its outer end and having therein a working pistonwhich is common to both of said chambers, means to admit a charge ofexplosive gas to the pump chamber, a transfer passage directlyconnecting the pump and explosion chambers around the cylinder, a`normally closed valve. controlling said passage, a cam which operatessaid valve and is so shaped that it will open said valve to allow thetransfer of the explosive charge to the pump chamber and whichy can beshifted or moved so that various portions of the cam will also holdvsaid valve open during more or less of the up or outward stroke of theengine piston thereby allowing a part lof the explosive charge to bereturned to the pump chamber,

a pump chamber, an attached cylinder forming an explosion or workingchamber at its outer end and having therein a working piston which iscommon to both'of said chambers, an inlet passage to the pump chamber,

a normally closed inlet valve controlling theadmission of the explosivecharge to the pump chamber, means to permit a more or less part of theadmitted ex losive charge in the explosion chamber to e'returned to thepump chamber to regulate the speed or power of the engine, and means topermit exhaust of the burned charge from the said explosion chamber; ofmeans to operate the said inlet valve, comprising a camshaft havingoperating means therefor in connection with the engine shaft, a `camwhich is mounted on said camshaftand is soshaped that various portionsof it will operate to open the inlet valve earlier thanother portions,means coperating with said cam and said valvoe whereby the camvoperates. the

' valve, and means to shift or move the cam during the operation of theengine whereby various portionsof the said cam are'caused to operatesaid valve as and for the purpose f described, the said shifting meanscoperating with the means to permit the return of part of the explosivecharge to the'pump chamber.

5. rl`he-combination with' a twoycycle explosive engine having a crankcase forming a pump chamber, an attached e linder forming an explosionor Working c amber at its outer end and having therein a working pistonwhich is common to both of said chambers, meansto admit a charge ofexplosive gas to the pump chamber, means to transfer the explosivecharge to the explosion. cham'- ber, and means to permit exhaust of theburned charge from the said explosion chamber; of a passageconnecting-.the two chambers, a valve in said passage adapted to con-lAtrol the same, a camshaft having operating means therefor in connectionwith the engine shaft, a cam whichis mounted on said camshaft and is soshaped that various portions of it will operate to open said valveduring a more or less part of the upward orouthaust erases ward strokeof the engine piston and thereby by the cam operates the valve, andmeans to shift or move the cam (relatively to the part that operates thevalve) during operation of the engine whereby various portions of saidcam are caused to operate said valve.

6. In a two cycle explosive engine, the

combination of a crank-case forming a pump chamber, an attachedcylinderA forming an explosion or working chamber at its outer end andhaving therein a working pistonl which is common to both chambers, aninlet passage to the pump chamber, a normally closed inlet valve in saidinlet passage controlling ',the admission of the explosive charge to thepump chamber, means to transfer the explosive charge from the pumpchamber to the explosion chamber, means to permit exrom the explosionchamber, a passage directly connecting the'two said chambers, around thecylinder, a normally closed valve in s aidconnecting passage controllingthe same, a camshaftl having operating -means therefor in connectionwith the engine shaft, a cam on said camshaft having'ineans cooperatingtherewith to operate the said inlet valve, a cam on said camshaft havingmeans cooperating therewith to operate the valve in the saidpassage'connecting the two chain-vv bers, each ofvsaid 'cams being soshaped that various vportions of them will operate to open theirrespective valves for a longer time than other portions, and said camsbeing also so set and shaped with relationto.

each other and the engine parts that the valve in the connecting passageis opened during a more or less part of the up or outward stroke of theengine piston to-permit the return of part of the explosive charge tothe pump chamber and then the inlet valve is opened durin stroke of thevengine piston to permit the admission of the explosive charge to thevpuinp chamber; and means to shift or move the said camshaft or camsduring operation of the engine whereby more of the explosive charge isreturned to the pump chamber-fand less charge admitted through the inletor vice versa.

7. In a two cycle explosive engine, `the combination of a crank caseforming a. pump chamber, an attached cylinder forming an the' remainderof .the 'up explosionl or rWorking chamber at its outer cam on saidcamshaft having means cothe cylinder, a valve in said to control thetransfer of the explosive charge v bersaround the cylinder, a normallyclosed transfer valve controllin said transfer passage, means to permitex aust of the burned charge from the explosion chamber, a camshafthaving operating means therefor in 'connection with the engine shaft, aninlet operating therewith to operate the said inlet valve, a transfercam on said camshaft havmg means coperating therewith to operate thesaid transfer valve, eaeh of said cams being so shaped that variousportions of them will operate to open'their respective valves longerthan other portions, and said cams being also so set and shaped withrelation to each other and the engine parts that the said transfer Valveis opened by 'its cam to permit the transfer of the explosive chargefrom the pump chamber to the explosion chamber and held-:open during amore or less part of the up or outward stroke of the engine piston to4permit the return of partof the explosive charge to the pump chamber andthen the inlet valve is opened by its cam during the remainder of the ustroke of the engine piston to permit admission of the explosive chargeto the pump chamber, and means to shift or move the camshaft or camsduring operation of the engine whereby more of the ex losive charge isreturned to the pump cham er and less c harge admitted through'the inletor vice versa, substantially as described.

8. In a two cycle explosive engine, the combination of a crank caseforming a pump chamber, an attached cylinder forming an explosion orworking chamber at its outer end and having therein a working pistonwhich is common to both of said chambers, means to admit a charge of exlosive gas to` the pump chamber, a trans er passage directly connectingthe two chambers around passage adapted to the explosion chamber, in thecylinder wall controlled and opened by the wlorking piston, an auxiliaryair pump, and means to introduce the charge of air under pressure fromsaid air pum directly into the explosion chamber in ad( ition to andahead and independently of the transferred explosive chargesubstantially as described.

9. In a two cycle explosive engine, the

an exhaust port.

combination of a crank case forming a pump chamber, an attachedlcylinder forming an explosion chamber at its outer end and hav- 'f ingtherein a working piston which is common to both of said chambers, meansto ad- -emit a charge ofexplosive gas to the pump chamber, means totransfer the said charge to the'explosion chamber, an auxiliary airpump, means to introduce the charge of air from said air pump directlyinto the ex losion chamber 1n addition to 'and ahea of and independentlyof the transfer of the explosive charge substantially as described, andmeans to return a part of said transferred explosive charge back to thepump said cylinder.

11. The combination of a cylinder and supply chamber, of a pistonworking therein, a valve controlling the admission of the explosivemixture from the supply chamber to the cylinder,a valve for admittingthe explosive mixture to the supply chamber, and cams combined withvalve actuating mechanism operated by said cams, said cams beinconstructed to cause the closure of said va ves at different points inthe back stroke of the piston when a relative movement is effectedbetween the cams and the valve actuating mechanism.

12. The combination of a cylinder, and supply chamber, a iston workingtherein, a valve controlling t e`admission of the explosive mixture tothe supply chamber, a valve controlling the admission of the explosivemixture from the supply chamber to the cylinder, longitudinally movablecams having longitudinally varying peripheral enlargements,valve-actuating mechanism operated by said cams, said cams actuating theaforesaid valves, valve actuating mechanism operated by said cams, andmeans for shifting said cams relatively to said valve-actuatingmechanism.

.13. The combination in an explosive engine, of a cylinder and a supplychamber, a piston working in both, a valve for permitting the infiux ofexplosive mixture into the supply chamber, a valve for permitting theflow of explosive mixture under ressure from the-supply chamber to thecylinder, a cam for operating the valve controlling the flow into thesupply chamber, a cam for operating the valve controlling the flow intothe cylinder, and means whereby the first aforesaid cam is not permittedto open its valve before the cylinder valve has been closed.

14. The 'combination in an explosive engine, of a cylinder and a supplychamber, a piston working in both, a valfe for permitting the influx ofexplosive mixture into the -supply chamber, a valve for permitting theflow of explosive mixture under pressure from the supply chamber to thecylinder, a cam for operating the valve controlling the stroke of thepisto11, by a relative mvement efected between the cam and the valveactu- 10 ating mechanism.

HOWARD H. WXON.

/Vitnesses:

HENRY 1WEHLAN, CHARLES L. DIBBLE.

